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Daiya Dairy Free Cheese

One fun thing about attending a lot of food shows is that you can find things you weren't even looking for. During a recent trip to a commercial food products show we stumbled across this dairy free cheese product. On a side note, I'm not vegan, not even vegetarian, nor do I have any gluten tolerance problems but the product caught my eye nevertheless. To be honest many of the soy-based cheese products I've tasted are pretty bad and something I would not buy unless I absolutely had no other choices. This product caught my eye because it is made predominantly from tapioca starch and the sample they offered tasted pretty good.

That's not a bad ingredient list, all in all. I have read some vegans take issue with the coconut oil but that is a "green issue" not a nutrition issue.

Not Just For Vegans

Clearly a cheese-substitute product may be of interest to vegetarians and vegans but there are other reasons to supplement a diet with this type of product.

Cut down on cholesterol

Reduce hormone intake from dairy and soy products

Reduce saturated fat

Calorie reduction (small)

Gluten Free

Comparison: Cheese Vs Daiya 1 oz. Serving

Product

Calories

Fat Calories

Total Fat

Sat. Fat

Cholesterol

Sodium

Carb

Pepper Jack Cheese

110

80

9

6

35

190

1

Daiya Shreds

90

54

6

2

0

300

7

On the downside, the Daiya product does have quite a bit more sodium than typical cheese and a few more grams of carbohydrate. This may or may not be worth the trade off depending on your dietary needs.

How To Use Daiya Cheese

In addition to shreds, the cheese substitute comes in wedges suitable for slicing. The product can be eaten raw or melted in any variety of ways. Use in sandwiches, wraps, and tacos or use to melt over vegetables or top a casserole. In general, you can substitute the product, ounce for ounce in any recipe that calls for cheese.

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Our Taste Test

Daiya Pepperjack Shreds on a lightly grilled corn tortilla.

Visual Appeal

Raw, the shreds don't look bad but when heated, I have to admit they did taste better than they looked. When the shreds are heated the oil tends to separate out. In reality we folded over the tortilla, taco-style, so no one (but us) saw the kind of gooey looking cheese.

The Flavor

The cheese itself is a little bland but the pepperjack spices helped a lot. This simple quesadilla really tasted pretty good. The warmed cheese has the texture of cream cheese.

The Verdict

Certainly if you have dietary restrictions this is pretty decent tasting cheese-alternative and I think even if you just want to cut back on dairy it is a good choice.

About The Company

The company is located in Vancouver, BC. According to the website the "In Sanskrit, Dayaa means "loving, kindness and compassion". In the spirit of the name, the company creates animal-free products for the vegan community.